


The Ties That Bind Us

by l10nelmessi



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-09 16:59:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l10nelmessi/pseuds/l10nelmessi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Villa visits the Barça locker room. Neymar is starstruck and confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Feels Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> written for a prompt at fbk2: "Villa comes to the locker rooms of Camp Nou after a game to visit Messi and most of the players already know that they are in love so they think it's a really sweet thing for Villa to do. But there are some players who aren't aware of them being a couple and are really confused to see Villa walking in and continuously cuddling Messi and how the smile plastered on Messi's face refuses to disappear and also maybe they are a little bit jealous."

"Guaje!"  
  
The word comes from about a million different voices at once, and at first Neymar doesn't look up from his locker. This team shouts a lot, he's learned that. And they'd just won a match securing them a place in the next round of the Champions, anyway -- the boys are bound to be loud.   
  
Plus, Neymar doesn't know what the hell a  _guaje_  is, anyway. He's only just begun picking up on the Spanish.  
  
Then he realises. Guaje. Villa. David Villa.  
  
He turns around so quickly that he almost hits his head off of the side of his locker, but no one notices -- everyone is too busy huddled around a man in street clothes, hugging him or clapping him on the back or posing with him for pictures. As Neymar looks around, the only person who's hanging back is Leo, though he has the brightest smile on his face that Neymar has ever seen.  
  
Suddenly, Villa's right in front of him with Dani at his side, introducing them. "This is our new star," Dani says, his Spanish accented with Portuguese. Neymar rolls his eyes.  
  
"Hola," he says, putting his hand out for Villa to shake. "Nice to finally meet you."  
  
"You too," Villa says with a friendly smile, and Neymar decides that he liked the lines around his eyes.   
  
"Ney, give me your phone, let me take a picture of both of you," Dani butts in, but Neymar's glad -- he was trying to think of a way of asking Villa for a picture without sounding like a sixteen-year-old girl. Dani snaps a photo quickly and hands the phone back to Neymar, who sits on the seat in front of his locker to upload it onto his Instagram.  
  
He's choosing a filter when Dani drags Villa off throughout the changing room, yelling something like "where's our little champion!" at the top of his voice. He's no doubt looking for Leo, who had scored a hat trick today, and he knows that calling Leo their 'little champion' will embarrass him at least a little. Neymar smiles and shakes his head -- Dani's insane, but you can't help but love him.  
  
He's just finished typing out his caption, proud of his photo-editing skills, when he looks up to see Villa sitting next to Leo. They're both beaming and laughing at whatever Cesc is saying, and they're sitting so close that their shoulders and thighs touch. Every once in a while, Villa will lean into Leo briefly and flash him a quick smile, and Leo will smile back at him. They seem to be having a conversation that no one else can understand, and Neymar is confused by it, though he seems almost the only one.  
  
He also notices that Villa won't stop touching Leo. He knows by now that Barcelona is an especially affectionate team -- it's in the way that Dani pulls him into a tight hug, it's in the firmness of Xavi's hand at the back of his neck in the locker room after a match, or in the way that Pique and Busquets, the two giants, push him around and ruffle his hair up. They're always touching, all the time, and somehow Neymar finds it comforting rather than overwhelming. And they're especially fond of Leo, always pulling him into their arms or kissing his forehead after he scores, like they would do to a younger brother.  
  
But Villa's different, somehow. As Neymar watches, he never takes his hands off of Leo. He puts and arm around him and holds on tightly, squeezing Leo into him, and Leo smiles and leans into the touch. He winds the same arm around Leo's waist, playing with the hem of Leo's black sweater. What really surprises Neymar is when Villa kisses the side of Leo's head and holds onto his hand.

"Do you have any idea what the fuck is going on over there?" Someone mutters into his ear, and Neymar jumps and drops his sock.  
  
"God, Jordi, at least warn me when you're behind me."  
  
"Sorry, dude." Jordi grins at him, and Neymar smiles back. "But do you? Know what's happening, I mean? Because I have no clue."  
  
Neymar looks over at the two, who seem to have attracted most of the team. Geri is sitting protectively next to Leo, and Xavi is sitting at Villa's side. Cesc has dragged one of the red cube seats that each player has in front of their lockers -- Neymar's seat, he notices, because he's sitting on Dani's at the moment and Neymar's seat is next to Leo's -- and he's sitting to Geri's side, the rest of the team huddled around them. Neymar shakes his head. "I honestly have no clue. Just got here, remember?"  
  
Jordi smiles again. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten." Neymar feels something warm in his chest at that -- he's already become part of the family. "I've already been here for a season and I'm still confused," Jordi continues, "it's like, I knew there was ... something ... between them, but I never found out what. I mean, if they're just really good friends, or..."  
  
"Yeah," Neymar finishes for him, and Jordi looks relieved that he understands.  
  
"But just letting you know, if there is something more, it's totally okay. It's normal. Right?" He looks at Neymar as if he's testing him, a slight defiance in his eyes.  
  
"I know," Neymar says, because he does. He's not going to think less of Leo -- or Villa, for that matter -- just because he likes guys. That would be shallow and rude and, frankly, a little disgusting because Leo is an even more amazing person than he is a player. He doesn't deserve to be judged on stupid things like that.  
  
"Good," Jordi says, relaxing a bit and sitting next to him. "So what do you think?"  
  
Villa holds onto Leo's arm and sort of cuddles into him, and everyone laughs loudly at the expression on Leo's face -- he's clearly embarrassed, his face flushing pink, but he's still smiling like this is the happiest he's been in ages.  
  
"Something else," Neymar says quietly. "No one smiles like that for a friend. That is a different kind of smile."  
  
"I think it's sort of sweet," Jordi replies, his voice soft. Neymar looks over at him and his eyes are as soft as his voice as he looks at Leo and Villa together. "How close they're sitting, how David just won't move away...and Leo, he's so happy..."  
  
"So you've noticed, too?" Neymar asks Jordi.  
  
"You'd have to be blind," says a new voice from behind them. Bartra, tall and lanky and elegant, comes to sit on Neymar's other side.  
  
"Hey, Bartra," Jordi says easily from his side, and Bartra nods at him, smiling.  
  
"Hey, man. Are you guys talking about Leo and Villa?"  
  
"Yeah," Jordi says for them both. "Thoughts?"  
  
"Adorable," Bartra says, smiling. "Leo's so obviously not a couple-in-public person, it's hilarious. Geri told me a while ago that they were. You know."  
  
"Really?" Neymar asks, his eyebrows shooting up. Go figure. He was right.  
  
"Yeah," Bartra says, and his tone is strange, but Jordi interrupts.  
  
"He's okay, Marc," he says softly, "we're all cool with it here."  
  
"Okay," Bartra says, and Neymar finds it absolutely amazing how much they stick up for each other here, even Bartra, who hasn't even been playing regularly for the first team until a few months ago. He tells the two other men as much.  
  
"Yeah, but when you love someone," Jordi starts, "you don't let other people hurt them. I love the squad and I love Leo." Neymar sees something flicker in Jordi's eyes when he looks over at the crowd around Leo and Villa, but he looks away too quickly for Neymar to register it. "We all do. We trust you, but it was more of a precaution than anything. We're like a family here, you know that. Family looks out for family," he finishes simply, and he shrugs. On Neymar's other side, Bartra nods in agreement.

"It was sort of like that at Santos," Neymar says, looking at the ground. "Only it's ... I don't know, different here. Stronger."  
  
" _Tots units fem força,_ " Bartra says in Catalan, smiling a little. "Together we are strong."  
  
He looks up from Bartra's clear green eyes, and he sees Cesc walking towards them. "Aren't you gonna come say hi to Guaje?" Cesc asks brightly, smiling at them.  
  
"I already did," Neymar explains, and Jordi says he has, too, but Marc goes to greet Villa. Cesc sighs happily.  
  
"This is so great. They've missed each other so much, you can tell," he says, and his tone is that of someone who's so happy that you can practically feel it radiating off of him in waves. "Leo's so happy, this is the most I've seen him smile in forever. And Guaje, too, he's usually all broody and mysterious and, like." Cesc knits his eyebrows together and makes a serious face, and Neymar and Jordi burst into fits of laughter -- it's pretty accurate.  
  
"Now they're gonna go home," Cesc continues, "and it's gonna be so cute. They're gonna hug and snuggle and fuck each other and it's gonna be adorable." He claps his hands together contentedly and laughs when Neymar chokes. Jordi pats him on the back as he recovers, and Cesc's laugh rings in his ears as he goes to rejoin the group.  
  
Neymar and Jordi sit together in silence for a while. Neymar can tell that Jordi's thinking hard about something, because his eyes are trained on Leo and his expression is soft and he has that look on his face like he's a million miles away. Neymar doesn't want to ruin anything, so he sits in silence and listens to the conversation, focusing on tying his shoelaces.  
  
"Three goals? I see you haven't lost your touch without my brilliant assists," Villa's saying to Leo. Laughter.  
  
"Shut up," Leo says in that soft voice of his. "I could kick your ass in a match if I wanted to," he teases, and it's rare because Leo never talks about himself like that, not even to joke, but Villa's here, so. So Leo is different. Maybe this is what he's really like -- Neymar likes it, still humble but willing to let go a little bit.  
  
Geri laughs loudly and says something about what other uses Villa's ass could be put to tonight, and Neymar is literally so shocked that he forgets how to tie his laces for a minute.  
  
"Fuck off, Pique," Villa says, a smile in his voice. "You're just jealous."  
  
"Of Leo? Oh, yeah. Balon de Oro, Bota de Oro, David Villa's golden ass..."  
  
"Jesus Christ, Pique," comes Andres' voice, and Neymar thanks God that at least  _someone_  sounds as surprised as he feels. He can hear Dani howling with laughter, giving Gerard a high-five. "Stop with the butt-sex jokes. Please. You'll kill poor Leo."

Neymar finishes with his shoes and looks over at Leo, who's shifted away from Villa ever so slightly, his face red as if he'd just ran ten lengths of the pitch. Villa moves close again and wraps an arm around Leo's shoulders, and Leo relaxes and puts his head in the space between Villa's shoulder and his neck.  
  
"Thank you, Andres," Leo says, and Neymar marvels for the millionth time at how even though Leo's voice is so quiet, everyone stops what they're doing to listen to him. He continues, "you're my only friend here, clearly." Geri and Cesc gasp simultaneously.  
  
"Dude!" Cesc cries, while at the same time Geri says, "do I not even exist?" Leo laughs so hard that he closes his eyes and throws his head back, and Villa holds him even tighter, grinning like mad. It's almost sickening, how sweet they are, but at the same time it's the most adorable thing that Neymar's ever seen.  
  
Jordi still has that faraway look when Neymar gets up, so he hits the back of Jordi's head lightly to get his attention. Jordi shakes his head as if to clear it, looking up at Neymar like he'd just noticed that he was there.  
  
"I gotta go," Neymar says, and Jordi just nods as he gets up.  
  
"Yeah. Alright."  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow?"  
  
"Damn straight you will. Good game today."  
  
"You too."  
  
They kiss on the cheek before Neymar goes to hug and kiss everyone else goodbye. Villa pulls him into a hug, clapping him on the back. "You were really good today," Villa tells him, and Neymar is about to ask,  _you watched?_ , but he doesn't because that's a stupid question. Of course he watched.  
  
"Thanks," he says instead, because he doesn't know what else to say. "Leo was better, though. He's something else."  
  
"He is," Villa says, "he's something else entirely." There's pride in his voice that Neymar's never heard when listening to Villa respond to personal praise. It makes Neymar warm to him even more.   
  
"I'll see you around?"  
  
"I hope so," Villa says, putting a hand on his shoulder briefly. Neymar smiles. He hopes so, too.


	2. Not Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo takes David home and it's been too long.

Leo takes his time in the shower after everyone's finished poking fun at him and David. He makes a mental note to find the stupidest photoshoot of Geri's that he can, and paste it all over his locker tomorrow morning. He smirks -- revenge is sweet.  
  
Suddenly, he feels lips on the back of his neck and a warm body pressed to his own, and he nearly jumps out of his skin. He hears a laugh, familiar and happy and --  
  
"David," he breathes out as David wraps his arms around Leo's waist. "Christ, at least let me know you're here or something."  
  
"Sorry. Missed you," David mumbles into his wet skin, pulling him even closer. Leo grins and lets him.  
  
"I missed you too."  
  
"Everyone's gone..."  
  
Leo turns himself around and wraps his arms around David's neck, kissing his smile. "And I'm assuming you plan to take full advantage of the situation?"  
  
David smirks, and for the first time Leo sees him, sees his David again, all boyish smile and light brown eyes under his black fringe plastered to his forehead from the spray overhead. Leo pushes his hair back into its usual spikes, and he marvels for a second at the contrast between himself and David. His hair is so dark against the skin of Leo's hand. When he looks down at David's hand running up his stomach, David's caramel skin looks that much darker against Leo's.  
  
"God," David breathes, and suddenly the air between them is heavy and Leo wants him, wants this, right now. "How do you expect me to wait until we get home?"  
  
Leo laughs a little. "You don't have to, you know."  
  
"Don't I?" David takes Leo's hips in his hands, presses them to his own. Leo throws his head back, mouth open in a silent moan, and David takes the opportunity to brush his lips against his neck, sucking on his pulse point before pushing him into the wall and dropping to his knees in front of him, water dripping down his body and hanging off his lashes when he looks up at Leo.  
  
"You don't want me to wait, do you, Leo?"  
  
Leo’s moan is answer enough for David. Leo’s harder than he’s ever been in his life, because David’s here again, finally, and they haven’t done this in so long, and the last time they did it here was ages ago. David teases him with his tongue and Leo hums out another long moan. He hears David laugh, and he runs a hand through his wet hair.  
  
“I really don’t see what’s so funny, Guaje.”  
  
“Of course you don’t, you have no sense of humour,” David says, rolling his eyes. He moves his hand around Leo in firm, sure strokes, making it very hard for Leo to concentrate on anything at all. “I was laughing,” he continues, “because you were all shy and blushing just five seconds ago when we were with the guys. But now look at you, pressed up against the wall of the showers, naked in front of me like that. You want me, don’t you, Leo?” he smirks up at Leo, and Leo runs his finger along David’s jaw.  
  
“You know I do. You know how much I want you. Stop teasing, I thought you missed me.” he smiles down at David, leans over so that their lips touch for a moment.  
  
“I missed you so much,” David admits, pressing a kiss to the skin over his hipbone. “God, you have no idea.”  
  
Leo wants to tell him about how he knows, and he wants to explain to him all the tiny little things that he sees every day that remind him of David and of how David left, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just says, “David,” and David says, “I know,” and Leo wants to kiss him.  
  
But David has other ideas about what to do with his mouth. In a matter of minutes, Leo’s twisting his fingers in David’s hair, hips stuttering forward of their own accord, raw instinct overcoming emotions for a split second as he loses himself in the tight, wet heat of David’s mouth.  
  
Afterwards, he can’t stand -- he’s so drained, from the match and from what happened afterwards, that he sinks to the tiled floor of the showers next to David, his back leaning against a wall.  
  
“Fuck,” David mumbles, "we didn't even make it out of the changing room," and Leo can’t help but laugh a little.

“I know. Not complaining, though.”  
  
He looks over at David, takes in the full form of his body for what seems like the first time in forever. He looks even more toned than before he left -- Leo thinks it quite suits him. His knees are slightly red and there are line marks on them from when he kneeled on the ground in front of Leo. That, Leo thinks with a smirk, quite suits him too.  
  
“Wanna go home now?” David asks, his voice soft.  
  
“And where would that be?” Leo replies, and okay, maybe he’s still a tiny bit bitter about David leaving, but he loves David. He loves him. Leo can’t be blamed for loving someone and he can’t be blamed for missing him so much.  
  
“You know, Leo,” David says, gently placing a damp hand on Leo’s jaw. Leo turns to face him, to look into his eyes. “Just take me home.”  
  
They both smile as Leo gets up and pulls David to his feet.  
  
+  
  
Of course, once they’ve gotten to the safety and comfort of Leo’s house, the phrase ‘take me home’ becomes unnecessarily long, too many words lost in the way they touch each other, kiss each other like this kiss would be their last.  
  
So ‘take me home’ effectively becomes ‘take me’, and one obliges the other until they're both sleepy and sated, curled around each other because by now it's an instinct. David laughs quietly as he presses a kiss to the skin behind Leo’s ear.  
  
“What is it  _now?_ ” Leo turns over so that he’s facing David, kissing his lips softly, and he can feel the warmth from David’s arm slung across his waist through the fabric of his shirt. They smile like idiots at each other for a while before David speaks.  
  
“I heard Cesc talking to Neymar earlier. He said we’d cuddle and hug and fuck each other or something, that’s what I heard, anyway.” He laughs again, but Leo buries his face in his pillow. "Pretty accurate, huh, Leo? What are you telling Cesc, anyway?"  
  
“My God,” Leo mumbles into the soft red fabric, “remind me to put a muzzle on Cesc the next time I see him. I'm gonna kill him.”  
  
“You’re blushing again.”  
  
“Aren't I always blushing?” Leo says, and he laughs despite himself.  
  
A while later, when Leo thinks David’s asleep, he presses his lips to David’s chest, above his heart, and he mutters, “can’t you stay with me?”, and he doesn’t know why.  
  
David’s eyes flutter open slowly, and then he closes them again and sighs. He reaches over to kiss Leo’s forehead, and holds him tighter. Leo hears him whisper, “I’m sorry.”  
  
They say that if you love someone, you should let him go, and if he truly loves you too then he’ll come back for you.   
  
Leo thinks of how David went, the fight and the storming out of the house. He thinks of how when he and David finally decided to talk to each other again, David said the sweetest things, things that made his chest ache and he clutched at the phone, wishing David was closer so he could kiss him again. He remembers when David looked back at him in the airport, and he remembers the look on David’s face when he saw him again earlier today. That pride, that light in his eyes -- Leo could hardly stop looking at him. He is so beautiful and so striking in his beauty that Leo sometimes wonders how he ended up with someone like David.  
  
And here he is, at least for a short while, and Leo’s already worrying about when they’ll have to next say goodbye. He lets out a sigh of his own as he threads his fingers carefully through David’s hair.  
  
Leo loves him, and he had let him go. But now David is here, back in his arms where he belongs, and Leo gets an overwhelming feeling in his chest when he thinks that David really does love him, too. He’d come back for Leo.   
  
And he always would.


	3. Fes-Me Petons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David coughs. Clears his throat. Jordi’s stomach drops before he even says anything.
> 
> “I’m not...well. I’m not staying. Here. Anymore. I’m leaving. I’m going away next season.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god, sorry this took so long. it was like pulling teeth trying to get this story out. also, i think this is the first fic i've written without a happy ending so please tell me how i've done! thank you to everyone for reading!
> 
> the title is taken from the song by manel. roughly translated, it means "kiss me".

"We need to talk," Jordi hears Leo mutter one day after practice. He pretends to dig around in the icebox for water, then feels like an idiot for eavesdropping. "Now. Please."

"What?" David asks, lighthearted. "I'm all sweaty, I can't do autographs right now, Lionel-"

"I'm not joking right now, Guaje. This can't wait." Leo walks over a few meters away from everyone else, and Jordi sees David follow him out of the corner of his eye, looking hesitant.

"Hey," Dani says then, clapping him on the back. Jordi actually jumps and Dani laughs. "God, someone's zoned out."

"Yeah," Jordi says softly, and he isn't really paying attention because his eyes keep wandering over to Leo. He looks toned and fit, perfect as usual, but now there's a faint trace of something like - anger? - on his face. Controlled anger. Boiling beneath the surface. Jordi would be lying if he said it doesn’t turn him on a little.

Dani's eyes, sharp as ever, follow his and he sees what Jordi is looking at. He opens his mouth - probably to make some smartass comment - when David reaches out and pushes Leo. _Shoves_ him. Leo only loses his balance for a second, and then he's yelling.

"Stop acting like this is my fault!" The entire squad turns and looks, but Leo doesn't seem to care. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t the one-”

“You don’t understand _anything_ about this,” David shouts back, looking furious and hurt.

"Shit," he hears Xavi mutter from somewhere behind him. "Oh, shit." Jordi wants to ask what’s going on, but he doesn’t think anyone would have the answer.

Piqué gets there the fastest, puts an arm to both of their chests. "Guys-"

"Don't touch me," David mutters darkly, and shoves Geri's arm away from him. Geri looks hurt and angry at the same time, and Xavi runs over to save the day, as usual. He’s followed closely by Puyi.

“David,” Xavi starts, “what happened.”

“I didn’t do anything,” David grinds out, and he sounds like a sullen child. “He wanted to talk to me, so we talked.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Leo calls around Gerard, who’s trying to console him. His voice breaks and there’s something in his eyes that makes Jordi ache to take it away.

“You don’t have to know every single aspect of my life-”

“That’s a big aspect, you asshole! I’m your - we’re - you’re supposed to tell me things like-”

“Look,” Puyi begins, frank and to-the-point as ever. “One of you better explain to me what’s going on. Right now. Or I’ll call the Míster and then we’ll all get a lecture.” Tito’s still in New York for his treatment, and Roura isn’t there because it was actually Xavi’s idea to have a training session today. He’d organised everything and called the whole team, telling them whoever wanted to come could come. Most of them showed up - they have football in their blood, after all, can’t stand too long without a ball at their feet - but none of the coaching staff was there.

“So one of you start talking,” Puyi finishes. He looks from David, stubborn and with flames behind his eyes, to Leo, furious but in a hollow, hurt sort of way.

David coughs. Clears his throat. Jordi’s stomach drops before he even says anything.

“I’m not...well. I’m not staying. Here. Anymore. I’m leaving. I’m going away next season.”

The entire squad goes silent. No whispering, no voices whatsoever. Just the faint drone of traffic, the breeze through the trees. Xavi doesn’t blink. Leo buries his face in Gerard’s chest, and Gerard's mouth falls open a little as he stares over at David. Andres looks like he got slapped in the face. Everyone does. Jordi can practically feel the sting.

“Guaje?” Cesc is the one to break the silence, of course. His eyes lock with David’s and they seem to be having a silent conversation. If they were actually talking, it looks like Cesc would be asking _why_ and David would be saying _I’m sorry._

“I’m not getting playing time here, you all know that,” he explains softly to the squad. “I don’t...want to. Leave you guys. You’re my friends. Family, even.” His eyes flicker for a fraction of a second to Leo, who has come out of the protection of Gerard’s arms. “More than family.”

“ _Més que un club_ ,” Xavi says sadly. David’s smile is even sadder.

“I’m really sorry, guys. Honestly.”

“Don’t be,” Andres says, and Jordi can tell he’s trying to make his voice sound even. "We love you." He walks over to David, pulls him into a hug, and David sighs gratefully and buries his face in Andres’ neck. They all join, eventually, form one giant group huddle.

Jordi’s only been here a season. Just one season, and he already feels so connected with and so loved by these people. David’s been here for three years already. Jordi tries to imagine his love for his teammates tripled, and he feels overwhelmed just thinking of it. This must be harder for David than for anyone.

“Guaje,” a voice says, and Jordi would recognise that voice anywhere. The hug breaks up, and Leo, who was standing a few feet away, steps forward a little.

“Leo,” David breathes out, and he rushes over to hold him. He puts a hand to Leo’s cheek, runs the other through his hair. Jordi suddenly feels that unfair jealousy, that stab of anger. He tries to shove it down as deep as he can. David whispers, “I am so, so sorry.” Leo looks like he believes him.

“Let’s give them some room, yeah?” Puyi says loudly, and then he shepherds everyone off into the changing room. Jordi’s heart feels heavy as he thinks about Leo’s hands in his hair after a goal, Leo’s lips on his cheek or his neck after a match. And he can’t help but think that if he had Leo, he would never leave him. Ever.

+

They’d just lost 2-1, their first loss of the new season, against Ajax, away in Amsterdam. Jordi is - well, not angry, exactly, just frustrated - and so is the rest of the team. The captains go around to each person, say things to make them feel better, to keep the motivation up.

“We know what we have to do next time, then, don’t we?” Xavi calls, and Puyi answers for the rest of them.

“We have to be stronger than ever,” he says, and he has something in his voice that makes the rest of them believe, too. “We’ve got injuries this season, and we’re missing a few people, but we have to be strong. And we have to believe. Let’s win this one for Tito, yeah?”

“And Abi!” Dani yells over the raised voices. Everyone just yells louder, and Xavi and Puyi clap them on.

As motivating as their captains were, Jordi heads for the showers late and he’s feeling the same, if not slightly less frustrated. There’s still that tightness in his muscles. The chances they had but didn’t make good on are playing over and over in his head. He runs his hands through his hair, tilting his face up towards the warm spray overhead. He likes this, the post-match analysis he does alone. It helps him think, helps him refocus for the next match. He presses his fingers into the muscles along the back of his shoulders, willing himself to loosen up.

“Jordi.” Leo’s voice - Jordi knows it’s Leo without opening his eyes, his voice is so recognisable - echoes in the showers. Jordi opens his eyes and his throat goes dry almost immediately. Leo has a towel slung low over his hips, his hair a little tousled, but he’s not wet - he hasn’t showered yet.

“Hey, Leo,” Jordi says, and he tries to sound like he doesn’t want to drop to his knees and suck Leo off right there and then. “Isn’t it late?”

“Yeah, everyone else left,” Leo admits, blushing a little. “I was just thinking. About the match, you know? I’m pissed that we lost today.”

“Me too. We all are.” Jordi wonders how he’s managing to have an actual conversation with Leo in the fucking showers of all places. He only has the low stall door and the towel around Leo’s waist separating his naked body and Leo’s. He feels himself responding to the thought and tries to think of something else, but. Leo. All he can ever think of is Leo. Morning and night.

“We’ll get them next time,” Leo says, and he has a quiet sort of confidence in his voice that makes Jordi believe him, too. Leo’s eyebrows raise suddenly. “Forgot my shampoo,” he mutters, and turns back to the changing room. Jordi breathes a sigh of relief - he has his own problems to tend to.

“Fuck,” he breathes, and he finally slides a hand down his flat, muscular belly to where he’s craving attention. All he can think of is Leo, wet and naked and hard for him. Leo, moaning his name. Leo’s cock in his mouth. Tasting the water from the showers on Leo’s skin.

Jordi involuntarily lets out a tiny moan, and he didn’t realise his hands was around his cock until just now. He mentally tells himself to shut up, Leo’s here. Leo can hear him.

Somehow, the thought just turns him on even more.

He leans up against the wall behind him, head tilted up, his hand moving on his cock in slow, long strokes. All the images, all those dirty things he can imagine doing to his teammate, his _friend_ , for God’s sake...he’s going crazy. Jordi wants so much at the same time that it overwhelms him, he can’t last like this, he can’t-

“Jordi?”

He freezes. Opens his eyes. Turns his head to face Leo’s eyes, and he expects to see a question in them, disgust, even. But the only thing he sees is hunger. Leo wants him and the realisation makes him freeze to the spot.

“Fuck, Jordi.” Leo walks over, reaches into the stall and unlocks the door. His eyebrows raise a little, and he smirks, and Jordi is still frozen to the spot. “Relax, okay? I want this. So do you.” And then he leans in and kisses him.

Jordi’s not frozen anymore, because damn everything to hell if he’s not going to take this opportunity. He’s wanted this for so long - he’s been in love with Leo for so long - and Leo’s lips are soft and insistent against his. Innocent. He tastes like peppermint and something sweet, something that Jordi tries to taste more of as he sucks gently on Leo’s bottom lip. He loses his hands in Leo’s hair, feels Leo’s hands running up and down his sides and maybe - maybe -

Leo breaks away for air, smiling. His eyes are a little unfocused for a second, hair wet and sticking up from Jordi’s fingers, and his lips are slightly swollen, pinker than before. And Jordi had made him look like that. But - shit. Shit.

He knew this couldn’t be real. He knew it was too good to be true.

“Villa.” Leo almost flinches as Jordi says his name. “You’re - aren’t you together with David?”

“Not anymore,” Leo says, so quietly that Jordi can barely hear him over the shower. “Not for a long time now.” He smiles crookedly up at him.

“Sorry,” Jordi says, and he runs his hands through his hair. He can’t believe that he’s here, naked with Leo in the fucking shower, and they’re sitting here talking about Villa when they should be-

“It's okay. Jordi, I want you,” Leo says, and Jordi - well. He has to smile a little. Talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions. “And I know you want me. Is this okay?”

“Leo, you have no idea,” Jordi mumbles, and he leans in again to press his mouth to Leo’s, hot and open. This time, Leo pushes him up against the wall of the shower, moves his mouth down to Jordi’s neck and it’s electric, his teeth on Jordi’s skin are electric. Jordi shudders, he actually shakes, when he feels Leo's fingers around him.

"Can I...?" Leo asks quietly, and he looks up at Jordi with a question in his eyes.

"Please," Jordi says, and he's all but begging, making a concious effort to stay standing as Leo gets on his knees in front of him. "God, Leo, please..."

"I'll take care of you," Leo mutters, "I'll give you what you want." When he finally takes Jordi into his mouth, Jordi tangles his hands in Leo's hair and pulls a little, making Leo moan and Jordi fucking loves the sound. Leo is eveything he imagined he would be and more. He wants to drown in Leo, in the pleasure radiating through his body in shockwaves. It's no wonder that he comes so soon, so hard, his hips stuttering forward into Leo's mouth, and it's almost painful in its relief.

He looks down at Leo through bleary eyes, heart racing, and when he sees Leo's smirk, Leo's come all over his own hand...well. It's about a thousand times better than he could've imagined.

+

Jordi takes him home, and for a while he can't believe that it just happened. He's surprisingly not embarrassed, because Leo obviously wanted it too, but he's sort of shocked nonetheless. Leo laughs when Jordi tells him, when they're laying in bed together in just their pyjama bottoms.

"Why would you be surprised?" Leo asks, a smile in his voice. "You know I...well. I thought you knew that I like you."

"You do?" Jordi wants to punch himself in the face for sounding like an eight-year-old girl but - this is Leo. Leo, who he's been dreaming of hearing this from for a year now. Leo, brave and strong and smart. Leo, who - maybe, maybe one day - could be his. His Leo.

"You still sound surprised," Leo mutters, and he laughs when he pulls Jordi in for a kiss. He winds an arm around Leo's waist, threads the other carefully through his soft hair.

"This is surreal," he breathes, and Leo laughs, but Jordi means it - he can't believe that he finally has Leo here like this, the upper half of his torso propped over Jordi's, kissing him in the dark with his hands in Jordi's hair. Leo's mouth is soft against his, lips moving slowly, tongue tracing Jordi's bottom lip. He loves the way Leo kisses - deep and soft, like he wants to stay there forever, but there's something missing, something that Jordi can't name.

"What's wrong?" He asks, breaking away reluctantly. "What is it, Leo?"

"What do you mean? There's nothing," Leo says, but he doesn't sound convincing.

"If you don't want this, just tell me. I'll...I'll be okay." Which, of course, is a complete and utter lie, because now that he's got Leo like this it would be torture to let him go, but Leo doesn't need to know that.

"But I do," Leo says quietly, and he bumps his nose against Jordi's and smiles a little. Jordi breathes an internal sigh of relief. "I do want this."

"Me too. More than anything in the world," Jordi admits, and he presses a kiss to Leo's lips, trying to tell him he's in love with him without using words. He's not sure that Leo understands, so he says, "just tell me if you need anything, and I'll do it. Anything. I'll do anything for you."

"Jordi-"

"Don't," he interrupts, "I know how I feel about you. I'm yours."

Leo kisses him then, his chest pressed to Jordi's, their legs tangled together under the covers. "Go to sleep, okay?"

And Jordi closes his eyes, doesn't stop thinking of Leo as he falls asleep.

+

"Hello?"

Jordi wakes up to Leo's voice, but he sounds far away. He opens his eyes and he's instantly confused - it's pitch black in his bedroom, and Leo's not there anymore. There's a light on somewhere down the hall, and Leo's voice seems to be coming from there, so he's probably on the phone. Jordi glances at the clock - 2:45 AM. And they have training tomorrow. Weird that Leo's up so late, but it's okay. He turns over onto his somach and takes a deep breath before he hears Leo's voice again.

"Why are you calling me? Why now?" Silence. Jordi wakes up a little, because that's a weird way to greet someone. "Well, I sort of got the feeling that you didn't want to talk to me again from the way you talked to me the last time. Last I remember, you were telling me to fuck off and you hoped I'd be happy here." His voice is cold and hard, and Jordi wonders.

"How are things different? I haven't talked to you in-" Pause. "You've been keeping track?" Leo laughs. "God, and they call you heartless. No, I'm not gonna tell you who said that!" Leo laughs some more and Jordi smiles. He has such a nice laugh. He has such a nice...everything.

"I hate how easy it is to talk to you ... I miss you too." Leo says it quietly, with a faint smile in his voice. "God, I've been missing you so much lately. I can't - can't stand it here without you. Everything reminds me of you. Like the shitty coffee maker at my house. Or the laundry detergent you used. And you left one of your ties in my closet, you idiot, and I can't-" More silence, and Jordi can feel his heart drop as he sits up, because he knows who this has to be. It can only be one person.

"I still love you, David," Leo says, so quiet that Jordi has to strain to hear it. And that's the nail in the coffin. "After everything, I still love you so much." A pause. Jordi has to put a hand to his chest, because he can feel actual pain. Leo continues. "I promise. It'll never be anyone but you. Never again." The blows just keep coming and Jordi doesn't know how much he can take.

"You do? ... I miss you, too, more than anything ... God, of course I want to. I've been wanting to be with you since you left ... I can't right now. It's...complicated. But don't worry, I'll fix it. I'll fix everything. I just..." He sighs, and so does Jordi, but they're such different sounds. Leo sounds happy, relieved, even, and Jordi - well. He doesn't even know what he feels. He just hurts.

"I need to go. I know, I don't want to either ... okay. As soon as possible, okay? I'll call you." There's a tiny pause, and Leo whispers, "I love you. I love you so, so much. Don't ever fucking do that to me again." He laughs shakily at first, and then his laugh loosens up, gets lighter, and Jordi imagines David laughing too. He imagines it's warm and quiet, like a secret, just for Leo and his head is spinning.

He hears Leo hang up, laugh some more, sigh. Jordi decides to just go out, face it, break his heart and get it overwith.

"Leo?" Jordi calls, "you okay?"

"Yeah," Leo says, stepping into the doorway to the kitchen. His face is the picture of happiness, and Jordi has the fleeting thought that if he hadn't heard Leo on the phone, he would've thought that that wonderful smile was for him.

"Why are you up so late?" He asks, and he can't help but brush Leo's hair away his forehead. It's painful, trying not to pull Leo in and kiss him.

"I...Jordi, I got a phone call. From David." Jordi doesn't say anything. He waits, braces himself. Leo continues. "I'm so sorry. I can't do this-" he gestures between them. "-anymore. We agreed, we said that we could get back together, and, well. Have you ever loved someone, so much that you never want to be away from them, that you'd die for them?"

And Jordi wants to shake him and yell, _you, I love you like that, I'll always love you like that. Please. It will always be you_. He just nods. Leo smiles, oblivious as usual.

"That's how it is with David and I. I'm so sorry."

"But..." Jordi begins, and he just can't help himself. "You said...just a while ago, you said you wanted this." He knows he sounds desperate and he knows he sounds pathetic, but it hurts so badly and he can't believe it. He can't believe that he just had Leo, all to himself, and now he has to let him go.

"I'm sorry," Leo says heavily, "really, I am. I know it sounds stupid but I guess I just...changed my mind. Things changed."

"In record fucking time," Jordi breathes out, leaning against the wall. "Fuck, Leo. Jesus."

"Are you angry with me?"

And he's so angry, he's furious and hurt and a thousand things at once, but he's not angry at Leo, he couldn't be if he tried, so he says, "of course not." If anything, he's angry with Villa, as weird and fucking twisted as it is. Villa's the one that called in the middle of the night and won Leo over again. Villa's the one with Leo's heart in his hands. He continues, "it's not your fault that you...that you love him. I just want you to be happy." If anything he's ever said is true, this is it. All he wants is to see that smile on Leo's face again. Be it because of him or someone else, he wants Leo to be happy. And if Villa can provide that for him, then Villa is the luckiest guy on Earth.

"Thank you," Leo says, and he sounds relieved. He pulls Jordi in for a hug, and Jordi holds him firmly so he's fitted to Leo's body, a hand at the back of Leo's head. He presses a kiss to Leo's cheek. Just like on the pitch. Like friends. Jordi wants to shove him away and he wants to hold him forever. He pulls back first, tries to trick himself into thinking he's in control.

"Come to bed," he whispers, and he leads Leo back into the bedroom. When Jordi falls asleep, he can feel Leo curled up against him, and he wonders if this is how Villa feels in Madrid, because he misses Leo so much already even though they're so painfully close.

+

Villa visits, and Neymar asks him about Leo and Villa, and Jordi plays dumb. He stares and stares at Leo, at his smile, and he can still feel Leo's mouth on his. He can still feel Leo's touch on his body every fucking day, searing holes into his skin and it practically sets fire to his heart, how much he wants Leo. How impossible it is to have him.

But it's okay. Because Leo's happy, and that's the most important thing. So he keeps staring, and Leo stares back, at one point. And Jordi knows Leo will never think of anyone but David, but he can't help himself from wondering, _what if._


End file.
